Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Sells $4,960,760.00 in Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total transaction of $4,960,760.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 165,421 shares in the company, valued at $41,868,055.10. This represents a 10.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 0.2%

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $238.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $214.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.84. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $130.08 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. The firm had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 24.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter worth $26,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on RCL. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $300.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $295.00 to $275.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $301.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, April 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $279.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.95.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.